Paladins
|upkeep_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = * |defense = |resist = * |hits = |abilities = Magic Immunity Holy Bonus +1 Armor Piercing First Strike }} Paladins are a type of Normal Unit. This unit is unique to the High Men Race, and can only be built in High Men towns, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain both an Armorers' Guild and a Cathedral for this to be possible. Paladins are shock cavalry, and are some of the most powerful Normal Units in the game. They possess several powerful abilities which make both themselves and the army they are in significantly more powerful. First and foremost, Paladins are completely Immune to Magic, and will thus shrug off most spells and . Their Melee Attack has the ability to Pierce Armor and, if used properly, can also utilize First Strike, to wipe out enemy units before they can even react. In addition, Paladins are very Resistant to Curses and other ill effects, and can potentially become immune to them. During battle, all friendly units in the Paladins' army (including the Paladins themselves) receive , and . Paladins will almost always have at least one by default ("Regular"). This makes them even stronger than described above, and they'll just keep getting stronger as more and more is accumulated. Paladins require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Failure to pay these costs will result in the unit being disbanded automatically. Unit Properties Physical Description Paladins are a group of men (humans) in full plate armor - including red-feathered helmets - and mounted on swift white steeds. They wield lances - long shafts of steel-reinforced wood used for ramming enemies during a charge. Paladins are the devout knights of their chosen deity, and thus receive divine protection which shields them from magic and magical effects. Their very presence inspires their allies to fight harder! Paladins are a , containing when fully healed. Attack Properties The Paladins have the strongest Melee Attack of all High Men Normal Units. They are a significant step higher than High Men Cavalry, with both a better attack strength and the ability to tear through armor with great ease. Each Paladin's Melee Attack has a strength of by default. However, Paladins created from a town always receive at least one free , giving them each. Furthermore, the Paladins enjoy their own Holy Bonus, raising the attack strength to ! With this score, each Paladin delivers an average damage output of per attack, a rather high output for a Normal Unit. With all attacking simultaneously, the results are often quite impressive. Furthermore, Paladins possess the Armor Piercing ability. Whenever they engage in Melee combat with any enemy unit, the enemy's Defense score is temporarily halved. In other words, the enemy gets to make only half as many Defense rolls as it normally would. Thus, Paladins can effectively engage some the most well-armored enemies in the game (possibly even well-equipped Heroes) and still apply at least some damage to them. Naturally, enemies with low armor rating to begin with will generally suffer the full force of the attack. Finally, when Paladins make a voluntary Melee Attack against an enemy unit, they utilizes a First Strike ability. This means that instead of delivering their regular Melee Damage simultaneously with the enemy's Counter Attack, the Paladins' Melee Damage is delivered before the enemy can retaliate. In other words, any enemy killed by the First Strike does not get to make its Counter Attack at all, though it might still get to use a Gaze Attack if it possesses one. Note that while Armor Piercing is always in effect, the Paladins may not use their First Strike when Counter Attacking to an enemy's assault. This means that they will only deliver Melee Damage to their enemies, and will do so at the end of the battle sequence. Defense Properties Paladins are the best-armored units in the High Men army (and some of the most heavily-armored Normal Units in the game) possessing a default Defense score of . However, they enjoy their own Holy Bonus during combat, raising this to an even more impressive . This allows them to block about from any incoming attack. This should protect the Paladins from most enemy Normal Units and low-tier Fantastic Creatures. On the other hand, Paladins possess only a slightly better amount of Hit Points than High Men Cavalry, at per Paladin. This makes the Paladins somewhat fragile when damage does manage to get through their defenses. This is one more reason why Paladins should attempt to maneuver and utilize their First Strike whenever possible, limiting (or preventing) retaliation damage from the enemy's Counter Attack. Paladins possess the Magic Immunity ability, which is one of their best features. This ability prevents enemy wizards from targeting the Paladins with virtually any offensive spell. Even the majority of Global Enchantments and Combat Enchantments will fail to hurt them. Enemy directed at the Paladins will temporarily raise their Defense score to (!), making it extremely unlikely to damage the Paladins at all with such attacks. Enemy Breath Attacks, Gaze Attacks and Touch Attacks will also fail to affect the Paladins. Friendly spells (i.e. spells cast by the Paladins' owner) do affect the unit, of course, so it is still possible to put beneficial Unit Enchantments on the Paladins. It is only enemy magic that's blocked. For the few cases where Magic Immunity does not work, Paladins possess one of the highest Resistance scores of any Normal Unit. Their default Resistance is , but since Paladins almost always have at least one free upon creation, this is raised to . Furthermore, this score also benefits from the Paladins' own Holy Bonus during combat, raising the final value to ! This renders the Paladins completely immune to a few Curses and Special Attacks, and each additional Experience Level acquired will make the unit immune to an even wider variety of ill effects. Other Properties Paladins are faster than most Normal Units, moving at . This is crucial if they wish to utilize First Strike, withdraw from combat, or outflank the enemy more easily. More importantly, the Paladins bestow a set of bonuses to all friendly units on the battlefield, including themselves: * Melee Attack strength. * Defense. * Resistance. This will significantly increase the power of any army containing Paladins. Larger armies, naturally, benefit more from this, as each individual unit receives the same bonus. Note that this Holy Bonus is not cumulative, so having two or more Paladin units in an army does not grant more than +1 in each of the above categories. Basic Strategy Paladins are some of the strongest Normal Units in the game. They are significantly superior to High Men Cavalry, though appropriately more expensive to produce. Paladins are strong enough to take out enemy low-tier Fantastic Units with ease in one-on-one combat, not to mention the overwhelming majority of Normal Units. With Experience, proper use of First Strike, and/or several Paladins units operating together, it should be possible to engage and defeat even stronger Fantastic Creatures and experienced/well-equipped Heroes. Remember that Armor Piercing attacks means that heavily-armored enemies are much more susceptible than normal to this unit's attack! Paladins will only maximize their offensive capabilities when attacking voluntarily. Paladins can utilize their First Strike to cause severe damage to an enemy unit before it even gets a chance to fight back. This is very important in order to keep the Paladins alive, since they are somewhat fragile considering their otherwise-respectable strength. For the same reason, it's important to try and prevent the enemy from attacking Paladins on its own terms. When they are Counter Attacking, Paladins do not get to use their First Strike, meaning they would have to rely on their to survive - and they don't have that many to begin with. Therefore, have your Paladins charge into an enemy unit, killing off a good number of straight away. Those fallen enemy figures do not get to deliver damage back at the Paladins, minimizing the risk. Proper use of Paladins can thus lead to a significant reduction of friendly casualties. Also always keep your eyes open for a chance to completely bypass your enemies and charge straight at the Ranged Attack units in their rear. These weaker units will surely suffer at the hands of the Paladins. Still, this may be seen as somewhat wasteful, since the Paladins can just as easily spend their time killing enemy Melee Attackers. Remember that Paladins are Immune to Magic. They can be used effectively to combat any army or wizard who relies primarily on direct-damage spells, Curses, or . Paladins also work very well against units relying on Special Attacks to deliver most or all of their combat damage - since they possess both Magic Immunity and a fantastic Resistance score. Always try to accompany your Paladins with as large an army as possible. Each unit in the army enjoys the Holy Bonus automatically, thus improving its performance greatly. Ability Overview Magic Immunity * This unit may not be directly targeted by any enemy spells, including Curses and direct-damage spells. * The unit's Defense score is boosted to whenever targeted by a or Breath Attack. * The unit's Resistance score is increased by against Fear Attacks, Gaze Attacks and all Touch Attacks but Poison. Holy Bonus +1 * During combat, this unit provides , and to each and every friendly unit, including itself. * Holy Bonus does not stack: if there is more than one unit providing a Holy Bonus, only one takes effect. Armor Piercing * Whenever this unit attacks an enemy target (whether with a Melee Attack or Ranged Attack as available) the target's rating is temporarily assumed to be 50% lower than it really is. * This ability makes it easier to cause damage to heavily-armored targets. First Strike * When this unit makes a Melee Attack during its own turn, it delivers its Melee Damage before the target does. * Any enemy killed in the First Strike do not get to deal their own damage to the attacker. * First Strike damage is dealt after Breath Attacks and Thrown Attacks (if any). * First Strike does not work when the unit is Counter Attacking (i.e. when retaliating to an attack by an enemy unit). Experience Table The following table illustrates how Paladins improve as they gain Experience. Any properties that are not listed here do not improve with Experience in any way. * To achieve this level, either the Warlord Retort or the Crusade spell must be in play. ** To achieve this level, both the Warlord Retort and the Crusade spell must be in play simultaneously. *** These values include the bonuses from the unit's own Holy Bonus ability, which are always in effect during combat. Average Damage Output The table below details the average amount of damage that each in a Paladins unit will deliver with each type of attack, based on . It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to figure out the chance of hurting that target. Note that these values take the unit's own Holy Bonus into account, as it will always be in effect during combat. Acquisition Paladins are unique to the High Men, and thus may be produced in any High Men Town. A town must contain both the Armorers' Guild and the Cathedral to be able to produce Paladins. Should a town lose either its Armorers' Guild or Cathedral, it can no longer produce Paladins until replacement structures are built. (Note, however, that Stables are not required.) Note that this building requirement means that Paladins produced in towns will always start as "Regular" troops (one free Experience Level), giving them a small but significant bonus above the default unit strength. The Construction Cost of this unit is . Paladins may appear for hire as Mercenaries. They may already have some Experience on being hired, and several units may be hired simultaneously. Hiring these units requires a certain cost in that depends on many different factors. Paladin Mercenaries have the same Upkeep Cost as a normally-constructed unit. Category:Units Category:Normal Units Category:High Men